Lederach (with photos)

[Joe Bausch]

Yesterday was a glorious day here in SE PA and fellow GCAer Steve S joined me at Lederach (25 bucks w/ cart if you're on their e-mail list).  It was sunny and the leaves are changing.  I snapped over 170 photos and have culled them down to about 150 for my web page.  Go here if you wish to see them all:

http://myphillygolf.com/uploads/bausch/Lederach/index.html

I'll post some selected photos in smaller size here w/ some comments.

Those who have played The Rach know the greens will be interesting after seeing #1:



I really like the par 4 8th.  Here is a pic from the beginning of the fairway:



A hill between #9 and #18 tees gives a nice view of both holes:



My playing partner Steve S did eventually make it out of the bunker short of #9 green!  



My next favorite hole might be #10, here a view from the fairway:



I also like the bunker on #15:



Much talked about at Lederach is the green at #9, which is now the 18th.  It has been expanded and this photo shows the new part where the pin is located on this day:



There was some work in progress on the course between holes 2 and 3.  It appears that a water collection area is in the process of being removed, but I'm not certain about this.  Perhaps somebody here can confirm or clarify:





It appears another water collection area to the right on number 11 has been removed too:



After my 3rd trip around the layout, I was really able to begin to appreciate it more.... if only those darn McMansions could be removed.  

[Jeff Doerr]

Thanks Joe!

I love the simplicity of that first green.

You should post your photo of the second green also. That pin looks diabolical.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Joe,

Where's the picture of the 4th, my only birdie of the day? My 7w landed 2' from the hole and I actually made a putt!

It was hard to tell if the work between 2/3 was re-grading or creating more mounds on 2 but the bulldozer was busy.

The work on 11 will certainly create a more viable option for cutting the dogleg unless tall fescue is planted there.

If you look closely, you can see the line on 18 green showing the new growth near the flag. It's an improvement. I'm sure many would have liked to have seen this green bulldozed in its entirety.

Luckily the group in front of us allowed our threesome to play through and we finished in a little over 4 hours. The $25 weekday special is a giveaway. I  wonder what's going on there.

I'm not sure the new expanded green area on 18 or the work on 11 was authorized by KBM. It may be an effort by Billy Casper Golf to soften the course,which, by the way, was in very good condition.

We are experiencing on the best fall golfing seasons in awhile here in the Delaware Valley.

[astavrides]

Thanks Joe.  With the construction on 2/3 and 11, are all the holes currently open, or are they playing temporary holes or something?

[Joe Bausch]

Thanks Joe!

I love the simplicity of that first green.

You should post your photo of the second green also. That pin looks diabolical.

It is 'all request Tuesday' at GCA.  

If I didn't know any better, I'd guess the pinsetter had a bad previous night.  

Many of the pins, like this one at #2, were quite challenging:



I obviously didn't approach the green correctly with my second shot (from the right part of the fairway), as this photo shows my ball only about 15 feet from the pin but not a 'makable' putt is left:



And Steve S did birdie the challenging fourth hole, here's proof of his iron shot that ended up about 6 feet from the pin:

[Joe Bausch]

Thanks Joe.  With the construction on 2/3 and 11, are all the holes currently open, or are they playing temporary holes or something?

All the holes are open.  Too bad we didn't skip those holes, I might have broken 80 w/o them.  

This bit of construction didn't really come into play... well, upon second thought, it did for Steve on #2!  He pushed his drive right and it was heading right at one of the bulldozers.  We never found the ball, as I think it is now many inches deep in the earth!

[Chris Garrett]

Bringing back an old post.  I had the opportunity to play my first round at Lederach yesterday.  I'll start with the two main criticisms, which have nothing to do with the architectural merits of the course:

1) The housing around the course really detracts from the experience.  I can't remember a single hole in which cookie cutter houses didn't back up to within 15-20 yards of tees, fairways, and/or greens.  The character of the holes would have been greatly improved were they framed by trees or nothing at all.

2) The course is having a tough time growing in.  The rough was spotty at best, fairways were either spongy with water or browned out on severe slopes.

Now, onto the course itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed the layout.  The design is one of few that I've played recently which made me think my way around every hole. My apologies for not having pictures, and not being able to recount specific features of individual holes.  The yardage guide that I picked up prior to the round was well worth the $1 it cost.  To my recollection, there are at least 3-4 blind tee shots.  There are also many bunkers which are well hidden.  Combined with very few holes which are plainly laid out in front of you, local knowledge certainly comes in handy. 

Kelly did a great job of maintaining variety by mixing the distances of par 3 (I hit a PW, two 6-irons, and a 3-iron), 4, and 5s, using the rolling terrain and significant elevation changes, and providing different routes to many of the holes.  Variety also comes through when discussing the greens.  The greens at Lederach are amongst the most undulated that I've played.  I guess I need experience playing the greens as I didn't make a single putt outside of 5 feet.  I put plenty of them close, but never got anything to drop.  In fact, my memory tells me that I hit 13 GIR, and only had one birdie (I guess that is what I get when this was only my third round of the year).

Overall, I enjoyed the course.  It reminded me a bit of Heron Glen in Hunterdon County in NJ, although it isn't tricked up like as Heron Glen is.

[Matt_Ward]

Chris:

Can you explain specifically what is so "tricked up" w Heron Glen?

I see it as one of the very best NJ public courses and right behind the likes of Hominy Hill and The Knoll for the bext taxpayer layout in the Garden State.

Thanks ...

[Wayne_Freedman]

Leaves changing on August 1st in Pennsylvania?

[David Stamm]

Leaves changing on August 1st in Pennsylvania?

Wayne, look at the date on the original post.

[Kyle Harris]

Chris,

So the rough was.... rough?

[Dan Herrmann]

It's a very fun golf course - there are some very memorable holes out there.

But they have got to have the ugliest McMansions surrounding the course I've ever seen.  Half of these monsters have these gnarly cupolas on top - who knows why...  It's an example of very good golf course architecture surrounded by horrible building architecture.

[Sean_A]

I have a lot of time for Lederach and would really like to see the course again.  There are so many cool holes and I love how so much of the approaches are obscured or hide bits of the target.  I do recall how the approach at 15 really had me puzzled.  Instinctively I knew something was up.  The green flows hard to the left and there is a wierd little runoff on the back left.

I also found the 18th very curious.  I really didn't know which way was best to play the hole from the tee.  The green is more receptive from the water side of the fairway, but there is less danger from the right.  In truth (and I didn't realize this) one can play out right and get past the centreline bunker.  The one thing which is cool is that the pin stands there asking the player to be bold (and bringing water into play).  

The one thing I really took away from Lederach was that it backed up my premise that a course doesn't need a load of bunkers to make it challenging - even in this day and age.  The placement of the bunkers and use of the land is far more important.  I don't think there are 40 bunkers at Lederach, but it seemed many more because so many of the bunkers require a plan to deal with them.  It was very refreshing to see a course like Lederach.

Ciao

[John Kavanaugh]

Bringing back an old post.  I had the opportunity to play my first round at Lederach yesterday.  I'll start with the two main criticisms, which have nothing to do with the architectural merits of the course:

1) The housing around the course really detracts from the experience.  I can't remember a single hole in which cookie cutter houses didn't back up to within 15-20 yards of tees, fairways, and/or greens.  The character of the holes would have been greatly improved were they framed by trees or nothing at all.

Houses are an indication of a successful project.  Empty lots are a sign of crap architecture.

[Dan Herrmann]

John,
huh?

Keep in mind that Lederach is a municipal golf course.

[John Kavanaugh]

Even a municipality wants a course built that attracts homes and tax dollars. 

[Michael Blake]

I've played a number of times.  Very fun course.

Though, I liked it much better BEFORE they switched 9 and 18. 

FYI, they have 'family nights' on weekdays @ 6pm.  $35 TOTAL for 4 people (must be family), walking only.  Great chance to get the wife and kids on the course for very cheap.

...and a good friend of mine lives in one of those McMansions.  Only been 2 years and already had to have hardwood floors replaced and new crown moulding installed!

[Chris Garrett]

Hitting on a few comments following my post:

Heron Glen - The reason I said it is tricked up a bit is that several of the holes force the golfer to hit a long iron off of the tee, with no option for driver (unless one can carry the ball 290 yards).  At Lederach, driver is always an option, although in many cases a much riskier option.

The Rough - Kyle, the rough most certainly was rough.  Luckily, I didn't spend too much time in it.

The 18th - One can certainly hit past the center fairway bunker.  Standing on the tee, I thought "I can drive this thing if I want."  It played all of 318 yards from the blue tees, and was slightly down hill, down wind.  If the area in front of the green was firm, I wouldn't have had a problem getting the ball there.  However, since we had already been on the course for over 5 hours, and the group in front of us all had their ball retrievers out, I hit my trusty 2-iron just past the bunker going up the right side.  Of course, I put the wedge through the green and left myself with a tough chip coming back.